Türkiye's 20-Year Foreign-Income Exemption: Communiqué No. 333 and the Exemption Certificate (2026)

Legislative note: Last checked 11 September 2026. This guide is based on repeated Article 20/D, added to the Income Tax Law by Law No. 7582, and Income Tax General Communiqué No. 333. Tax residence and the source of income are fact-specific; citizenship or an immigration residence permit does not determine the tax result by itself.

Certain individuals deemed resident in Türkiye from 1 January 2026 may benefit from a 20-year income-tax exemption for foreign-source income. It is often described as Türkiye’s “non-dom” regime, but its legal name is the repeated Article 20/D exemption.

The benefit is broad, yet four gates must all be passed: Turkish residence, the prior-three-calendar-year test, a timely Exemption Certificate and genuine foreign-source income. A failure at any one gate can change the result.

Who qualifies? A four-stage test

1. Be deemed resident in Türkiye on the application date

Communiqué No. 333 requires the applicant to be deemed resident in Türkiye at the application date. An immigration permit, citizenship, a home purchase or a bank account therefore does not establish the tax start date by itself. The domestic domicile and continuous-presence rules, together with any applicable tax treaty residence article, must be analysed.

2. Pass two separate tests for the prior three calendar years

For the three calendar years before the year of Turkish residence, the applicant must have had neither Turkish domicile nor disqualifying Turkish tax liability. This is not a rolling 36-month test.

The statute creates an important exception: earlier Turkish tax liability arising from rental income, capital income or capital gains does not by itself prevent relief. The absence-of-domicile requirement for those years still applies.

The Communiqué’s examples treat earlier Turkish employment or business-income liability as disqualifying. “I was not fully tax resident” is therefore not enough; the income category and tax-office record must be reviewed separately.

3. Obtain the Annex-1 Exemption Certificate on time

The exemption is not self-executing. The applicant must apply to the competent tax office for the Exemption Certificate for Foreign-Source Income (Annex-1).

• Normal deadline: the end of the calendar year in which Turkish residence begins.
• Residence beginning in November or December: the end of February of the following calendar year.

Example 2 of the Communiqué confirms that a late application does not produce a certificate. If the residence date may be disputed, the file should not be left until year-end.

4. Earn income outside Türkiye

Holding the certificate does not exempt all income. The relief applies only to income earned outside Türkiye. Rent from Turkish real estate, dividends from a Turkish company and professional services performed in Türkiye remain subject to their own source and filing rules.

Payment in foreign currency or into a foreign bank account does not by itself satisfy the source test. The place where a service is performed, the location of real property and the residence and activity of the payer are among the facts that must be considered for each income category.

Which income may qualify?

Subject to the source test, foreign real-estate rent, dividends from a foreign company, foreign bank interest, gains on foreign assets and profits from activities carried on abroad may qualify. Use the following as an opening classification rather than a final tax conclusion:

“Candidate” is deliberate: the final classification depends on the contract, activity and applicable source rules.

What if the money is remitted to Türkiye? Reading Example 13 correctly

Repeated Article 20/D and Communiqué No. 333 do not require qualifying income to remain abroad. A bank transfer to Türkiye does not by itself change where income arose. Two questions must nevertheless be separated:

1. A receipt in a bank account is not the same as the legal character of the funds. Principal, loan proceeds, capital, sale consideration and income require separate evidence.
2. Example 13 concerns a person who is not resident in Türkiye and transfers money and foreign rent to a Turkish account. It is not a direct Article 20/D example for a newly resident Exemption Certificate holder.

A defensible file links the foreign income document, source-country tax/withholding record, bank trail and transaction explanation under one reference.

Filing, foreign tax and a later failure of conditions

No annual Turkish income-tax return is filed solely for exempt income. If another return is required, the exempt income is not included. Expenses and costs related to exempt income cannot be deducted against taxable Turkish income.

Foreign tax paid on exempt income cannot be credited against Turkish income tax. This does not mean the income is taxed nowhere: source-country tax, withholding and treaty results must be modelled before relocation.

If the conditions are later found not to have been met, the under-assessed tax is collected with a tax-loss penalty and late-payment interest. Example 12 shows that retroactive Turkish business-income registration for a prior year can lead to cancellation of the certificate.

The inheritance rule is narrower than a general gift exemption

Law No. 7582 sets a 1% rate for property transfers by inheritance during the Article 20/D exemption period. It does not create a general 1% rate for all lifetime gifts and gratuitous transfers. Estate planning must distinguish inheritance from gifts and consider foreign inheritance taxes.

The personal exemption and a QSC are separate regimes

Repeated Article 20/D applies to an individual. A qualified service center (QSC) is a corporate and payroll regime for a capital company meeting the conditions in Law No. 4875. An individual’s certificate does not automatically exempt company income or a payment from the company to that individual.

The previous version of this article treated a proposed 9% manufacturer-exporter rate as enacted and built a “10% minimum corporate tax paradox” around it. The final text of Law No. 7582 did not adopt that proposal. Article 8 instead set a 12.5% rate for qualifying industrial and agricultural production income, while the five-point export reduction in CITC Article 32/7 continued. The old comparison was therefore removed.

For MNE groups at the EUR 750 million threshold, a company-level Pillar Two/QDMTT review may be required separately from the personal exemption. The QSC and Pillar Two guide explains the jurisdictional framework.

Building the application file: eight steps

1. Determine the residence date: analyse domestic rules and the relevant treaty residence article together.
2. Audit the three calendar years: document domicile, tax-office records and income categories year by year.
3. Separate immigration from tax: an immigration permit does not determine tax residence by itself.
4. Lock the Annex-1 deadline: record the normal year-end deadline or the following-February rule for November-December residence.
5. Prepare an income inventory: classify interest, dividends, rent, gains, royalties and business income by jurisdiction.
6. Evidence source: match contracts, statements, withholding documents and place of performance at transaction level.
7. Model foreign tax: include non-creditable source-country tax and treaty results in the net cash cost.
8. Analyse companies separately: if a QSC, holding company or Turkish operating company is contemplated, model place of management, transfer pricing, distributions and Pillar Two outside the personal exemption.

Official sources

• Law No. 7582: legislative record and enacted text — Grand National Assembly of Türkiye
• Income Tax General Communiqué No. 333 — Revenue Administration
• Annex-1 Exemption Certificate for Foreign-Source Income — Revenue Administration
• Income Tax Law No. 193 — Legislation Information System
• Inheritance and Gift Tax Law No. 7338 — Legislation Information System
• Corporate Income Tax Law No. 5520 — Legislation Information System
• Foreign Direct Investments Law No. 4875 — Legislation Information System